You’re Not Tired, You Are Being Boiled in Your Own Metabolic Bathwater Slowly
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 16
- 6 min read
Written by Dr. Axa Yox, Personal Coach
Dr. Axa Yox is well-known for her expertise in human biology and gut health. The First-Prize Award winner was nominated as a Person of Extraordinary Ability. A founder of Yox Media, Host of W.H.Y. - What, How, Y podcast. Author of book "One Promise."
What if I told you your body was quietly cooking itself from the inside out? No, not with fire, but with carbon dioxide? We celebrate oxygen. We chase clean air, deep breaths, ice baths, and lungfuls of vitality. But hardly anyone is talking about the real silent enemy hiding in your bloodstream: CO₂, a gas that is so deceptively simple that it can drown your cells in slow motion.
The war inside your bloodstream
Oxygen (O₂) is the celebrity of cellular health. It’s the gas we obsess over. But the human body is not only about oxygen. It’s the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. Because it’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) that quietly controls the pH of your body, the behavior of your cells, and the way your body actually AGES.
And here’s the only FACT you need to know about how INFLAMMATION builds up in human cells:
CO₂ dissolves in your body fluids 24 times better than oxygen.
Especially in warm environments, like your 98.6°F human body.
When CO₂ dissolves, it forms acid. Slowly, persistently, silently… your internal environment becomes more acidic. Not enough to kill you. Yet, just enough to start sabotaging you.
And no one’s talking about it.
Boiling from the inside out
This is not metaphorical. This is chemistry.
Soluble CO₂ = acidity.
Acidity = chaos at the cellular level.
Tiny shifts in the pH level of body fluids, even as small as 0.1, can alter enzyme function, block oxygen delivery, scramble gene expression, and make your mitochondria gasp for breath.
The worst part? Most of us are living in a low-grade acidic state without even knowing it. Stress, poor diet, shallow breathing, and a sedentary lifestyle. Those all create the perfect storm for CO₂ buildup.
You’re not just tired.
You’re being boiled, molecule by molecule, in your own metabolic bathwater. Slowly.
Intense workouts… help or burn?
Ever sprint so hard your muscles burned and locked up? That’s anaerobic glycolysis kicking in.
It’s the emergency backup system your cells use when they can’t get enough oxygen fast enough. Glucose gets burned without O₂, producing just 2 ATP and dumping lactic acid into your tissues.
You feel the burn. But the deeper damage is silent:
Cells under stress, running inefficiently, swimming in acid, starving for oxygen. Here’s a clearer time breakdown for each process:
Anaerobic Glycolysis: Lasts 10 seconds to 2 minutes (ideal for sprinting, heavy lifting).
Aerobic Glycolysis: Can last for minutes to hours (depending on oxygen availability and intensity).
Sprinting
High-intensity sprints require a massive amount of energy quickly. The oxygen delivery can’t keep up, so your body flips the switch. This is when anaerobic glycolysis kicks in, energy is produced fast, and lactic acid builds up.
Heavy lifting
Just like sprinting, lifting heavy causes a demand for rapid energy. O₂ can’t be delivered fast enough, so the same metabolic emergency system is triggered. Quick energy, acidic consequences.
Both are necessary. Both train the body to adapt. But here’s where it gets beautiful:
Wait… what? Then why is exercise good?
Because the burn is the signal to evolve.
Your cells respond to stress. When you push them hard enough with the planned program (not just hard), they build back stronger.
The planned training program can’t be ignored
Low-intensity movement burns fat and boosts efficiency. It uses aerobic glycolysis, a clean-burning, oxygen-rich system that builds endurance and uses both glucose and fat as fuel.
But high-intensity training does something extraordinary: it forces mitochondrial growth. Your muscle cells can have anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 mitochondria. If those mitochondria aren't being used effectively? Your body stops making them.
But when you challenge your body with explosive effort, you signal your cells to make more mitochondria. Over time, you get better at using oxygen to make energy. That’s when you start burning fat efficiently, not just during workouts, but at rest.
More mitochondria = more fat-burning power.
Why? Because glucose can be burned with or without oxygen. But fat? Fat needs oxygen. And oxygen only fuels mitochondria.
Exercise isn’t about the calories burned during the workout. It’s about training your system to be an oxygen machine.
The cancer connection nobody mentions
Back in 1931, Otto Warburg uncovered what we're only now starting to respect:
Cancer cells don’t use oxygen. They ferment.
Sicnetist found that even in the presence of O₂, cancer cells prefer anaerobic glycolysis, a low-energy, high-acidity metabolism that thrives in the same environment that CO₂ creates.
That’s not a bug. That’s the biological loophole cancer exploits.
A body flooded with dissolved CO₂ is not just tired, it’s boiled.
Your metabolism, immune system, and genetic integrity all collapse in slow motion under acidic pressure.
This means that an immobile lifestyle does far more than accumulate calories.
It deprives cells of oxygen and creates the acidic, hypoxic state that may set the stage for cancer and chronic disease.
The oxygen illusion
Here’s another scientific fact discovered in the early 1900s by Christian Bohr. You breathe. But that doesn’t mean your cells get oxygen.
Inhaling is not the same as oxygen delivery.
When your body temperature rises and CO₂ levels spike, carbon dioxide doesn’t leave, it dissolves into your body’s fluids, lowering your internal pH. In this acidic environment, hemoglobin clings to oxygen like a jealous lover, refusing to let go. And so, your cells begin to suffocate... even while you’re still breathing.
Low O₂ availability = poor fat metabolism, mental fog, slow recovery, and even DNA damage.
Eventually, cells flip into survival mode, burning sugar inefficiently in the cytoplasm, even when oxygen is technically available.
This is no longer just about energy.
Your body switches to the “disease” mode.
Your mitochondria: The last line of defense
These are your energy factories. And they only function at their peak when the oxygen-to-CO₂ balance is right.
If O₂ wins, mitochondria generate 30-38 ATP from a single glucose molecule. If CO₂ dominates, you’re down to 2 ATP and a sea of acid.
No balance, no energy. No energy, no resilience. No resilience… disease.
Why ice baths aren’t just a trend
And here is another kicker:
Cold reduces CO₂ solubility.
The colder the environment, the less CO₂ dissolves in your blood, and the more alkaline and oxygen-efficient your system becomes.
But timing matters.
If you take an ice bath first thing in the morning when your body is already in a low metabolic state, you kill its effectiveness.
Use cold as a strategy, not a stunt.
Hydration: Your CO₂ flush system
Staying hydrated isn’t just about drinking water. It’s about maintaining your body’s internal flow, the movement of fluids that flush CO₂ from your cells and stabilize your pH.
Hydration is oxygen’s best friend and acidity’s worst enemy.
So, what’s the takeaway?
This is not about diet. Not about breathwork.
Not about the workout.
It is the balance of all the above that is the answer to inflammation.
It is about chemistry, and whether you’re feeding your body the environment it needs to function… or silently poisoning it with every breath, bite, and thought.
O₂ isn’t optional. It’s survival.
But CO₂ is the one calling the shots.
And until you take control of that balance, you’re just surviving, not thriving.
Make oxygen your teammate.
Follow the routines that enrich your body with it.
dieting,
breathing,
hydrating,
exercising.
Make oxygen your teammate.
Follow the routines that enrich your body with it.
dieting,
breathing,
hydrating,
exercising.
Make carbon dioxide your target. And give your cells a fighting chance.
Because only when they win the battle… can you reclaim your energy, your clarity, and your LIFE.
It’s not just about dieting. It’s about eating with intention.
It’s not just about breathing. It’s about breathing with purpose. It’s not just about drinking. It’s about hydrating with intelligence.
It’s not just about moving. It’s about exercising with oxygen in mind.
Your body isn’t just surviving, it’s begging you to help it thrive.
So give it what it’s really asking for… so the silent war inside wins.
Read more from Dr. Axa Yox
Dr. Axa Yox, Personal Coach
Dr. Axa Yox is an emerging voice in human biology, gut health, and longevity. Ending up in the emergency room forced her to focus on health. In 2020, Axa faced the hardship of letting go. Searching for the answer, she transformed her life completely. She has since dedicated her life to helping others dramatically transform their lives through mindset to unleash their true selves. She is the CEO of X Theory, the premiere coaching company. International Keynote Speaker. Future TEDx speaker. Her mission: Every life counts.
